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MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Objectif

This innovative project aims to explore a neglected aspect of the experience of the First World War: the intercultural contacts and exchanges between and within the forces which made up the Entente. The project will investigate the construction of an Allied identity that was meant to ensure the cohesion of a multinational Allied coalition.Coalition warfare has arguably become the dominant type of military operations for European nations. A question of contemporary import for policymakers, the challenges raised by multinational military operations first came to light during the First World War, a conflict which pitted two formidable coalitions. Moreover, the Entente powers fielded soldiers recruited across their respective empires. The recognition of the multicultural nature of the First World War is at the core of the current debates over the experience of war in the twentieth century. The memory of the First World War thus feeds into current polemics over multiculturalism.This project will look into the articulation of Allied and national identities, as historians keep on debating the role played by the latter in bolstering the endurance of combatants. The project will contrast the emergence of this Allied identity with the efforts made to maintain communal identities during and after the conflict. The attitude of the Allied leadership towards 'coloured' troops and their segregative policies will be scrutinized as part of their effort to create and maintain a sense of community among allied troops. Interracial contacts raised a series of cultural, legal, and military issues during the conflict. Relationships between colonial troops and European soldiers and civilians, between white and black combatants in the American case; all shed light on the cultural management of a multinational and multicultural military coalition. Drawing on European and North American sources, this transnational study will explore a critical dimension of the Allied experience.